COVID-19 infection on board Coast Guard vessel

The ship was sailing the waters around Svalbard and Bear Island when the medic suspected COVID-19 infections on board as twelve of the crew had mild symptoms. 

KV Andenes sailed to Tromsø where the twelve were tested. One of the tests was positive, the Coast Guard announced in a press release Wednesday evening.

The ship will sail directly from Tromsø to Ramsund naval base near Harstad, where the rest of the crew will be tested and quarantined.

On August 4, a group of researchers associated with the Norwegian Polar Institute boarded KV Andenes at the Bear Island in the Barents Sea, according to a tweet posted by the Coast Guard.

Bear Island is the southernmost island of the Svalbard archipelago in the Norwegian Arctic.

In Norway, the coronavirus infection keeps emerging with many new cases reported over the last few weeks. After Hurtigruten’s expedition ship M/S Roald Amundsen arrived in Tromsø at the end of a Svalbard voyage, COVID-19 was confirmed on board. So far, 41 of the ship’s crew and 21 passengers have tested positive.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Prime Minister Erna Solberg urged Norwegians to think twice before traveling abroad. As of August 12, a total of 9,750 COVID-19 infections and 256 deaths are confirmed in Norway. 

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KV Andenes med støtte til Norsk Polarinstitutt med å hente en gruppe forskere på Bjørnøya. pic.twitter.com/zuGhLrKAcF

— Kystvakten (@kystvakten) August 4, 2020